Agnivesh willing to rejoin Anna's movement

India

Pti

Posted By: Pti

Published: Sunday, November 20, 2011, 0:00 [IST]

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New Delhi, Nov 20: Social activist Swami Agnivesh, who fell out with Anna Hazare, says he is willing to rejoin the anti-corruption movement led by him provided they agree, though he had faced "lot of insults" during his stint as a core member of Team Anna.

"I will not let my ego come in the way. I am willing to rejoin Team Anna. But I will not tolerate any hanky-panky," he told India TV in an interview, according to a release from the television channel.

Detailing his differences with Team Anna during Hazare's fast at Ramlila Maidan here, Agnivesh said it can be called dissent "which is essential in democracy."

"I wanted Anna Hazare to sit on indefinite fast, but not on fast unto death. At the core committee meeting on August 13, I raised this point and my dissenting note was formally recorded at Anna's insistence," he said.

Agnivesh, who had levelled serious corruption charges against key Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal, said some people wanted Anna movement to continue so that "they could grab the leadership."

"How can they ignore a joint appeal of Parliament and even the Prime Minister saluting the Gandhian? It was a golden opportunity for Anna to end his fast, but they dragged it on for three more days. I told them, you've done the wrong thing and this will later cause grave risk to Anna's health," he said.

To a specific question, the release quoted him as saying that "I even wept sitting alone. I had faced a lot of insults. But I decided not to speak otherwise it could weaken Anna's movement."

On his conversation in a controversial CD, he said he was speaking to Pandit N K Sharma, an associate of Shankaracharya Swarupannanda Saraswati. He maintained that he never spoke to HRD Minister Kapil Sibal.

To a question, he said he would join the 'Big Boss' show again, if given a chance, and was even thinking of working in Bollywood movies to spread the message of spirituality.